


Family

by fraiheit



Category: Chaos Walking - Patrick Ness
Genre: Cillian is alive, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Todd and Viola have a child, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-30 00:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13938969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraiheit/pseuds/fraiheit
Summary: It had been Todd's idea to go back to Old Prentisstown, he insisted on Ben coming along. While Todd had walked through the abandoned town square, showing Viola the empty shops and houses that he once called home, Ben had left them behind to visit their old farm. Todd shouldn't have let him go alone. He knew it wasn't a good idea – or was it?





	Family

You could hear Ben's noise for miles when he found Cillian. It was a mess, giant question marks, _Cillian_ over and over, pictures of him, younger, cleaner, healthier. Pictures of him now, skinny, his eyes empty, his noise dark and tired. _Cillian_ , the noise said again, _my love_ , images of them embracing, kissing each other, one of them holding a baby boy. More memories of their life on the farm, the sheep headbutting Cillian, Ben laughing softly at his husband, covered in grease, wiping sweat from his forehead. It was so loud, so full of shock and love, of long forgotten hope that resurfaced.  
Todd came running, worried that Ben was breaking down, the familiar place too much for the man that had been through so much. Guilt flashed through his noise. It had been his idea to go back to Old Prentisstown, he insisted on Ben coming along. While Todd had walked through the abandoned town square, showing Viola the empty shops and houses that he once called home, Ben had left them behind to visit their old farm. Todd shouldn't have let him go alone. He knew it wasn't a good idea –  
Viola rushed into Todd as he suddenly stopped running. She could see the change in his noise, all his worries washed away, replaced by _Cillian_ and _He's alive_ and another _Cillian_. Childhood memories moving so fast Viola could barely catch glimpses at them. Todd being grounded for neglecting his duties around the farm. Cillian and him screaming at each other, arguing because it was the only way they seemed to communicate these days, Cillian hugging Todd tightly and being pushed away by him. It was the day Todd had found her in the swamp, she recognised his busted lip and bruised face and his clothes. A memory of Todd grieving for his dead father – a memory of Todd calling Cillian his father.  
Cillian just stood there, staring at Ben, staring at Todd, glancing at the young woman he didn't know. His noise was weak, as if he didn't have the strength to be loud. _Ben_ and _Todd_ repeating over and over. Viola understood that he wanted to explain what happened, he wanted to know what happened, who she was.

Cillian had barely survived the attack on the farm. He thought he was going to die – but he hadn't. He had watched the men abandon Prentisstown when he was still too weak to follow them. He knew it would lead him to Todd, but he didn't have the strength. So he stayed behind. His own father had once told him that if you got seperated from your partner, you went back to the last spot you were together. He had hoped Ben would come back for him one day. Or Todd. And so the months had passed. His body recovered while his thoughts grew darker. With no one to read his noise, without Ben to tell him everything would be okay, he had no reason to stop thinking. He imagined Ben's death a million times. He thought about Todd being killed by the Mayor. The worst was when he convinced himself they were alive, but they had abandoned him. That he would die here, in this stupid town, all alone. Every day he stayed alive felt like a waste, but he kept living.  
When he had heard Ben's noise he recognised him immediately, even though he had changed. His noise had always been open and easy to read for Cillian, but this was something else. It was something he hadn't seen since the Spackle war had ended. And all he could do was look at his Ben, his husband, his love, and let himself be drowned by his noise.

That had been four years ago. Now he got to wake up next to Ben every morning again, Ben's noise like a warm embrace. They had built a new farm in a different place, a town that wasn't evil or dangerous or full of dirty secrets. There were people who's souls had not been ruined by their pasts. The new seddlers, the people from the other towns that had survived the Second War. More people who had the same open noise that his Ben had. Spackle lived in the town too. No longer as slaves or cheap labour workers. They were connected to the humans in a completely new way. The distrust only shone through from time to time. They had a council for that. Ben was part of it and so was Todd, and Viola. He was proud. He was happy. He was happy he had stayed alive every single pointless day.  
He got to wake up and feed the sheep and the chickens and then could come back to their big house and have breakfast with Ben, and Todd, and Viola, and his granddaughter, Maddy. She had the same brown eyes as her dad and the blonde hair of her mother.  
She was playing with her eggs when he entered the dining room, Viola telling her to stop and Todd telling Viola to stop, that she shouldn't make herself angry, it wasn't good for the baby. Viola told Todd to _shut up_ and _I fought a war while I was sick and I can still raise my child while I'm pregnant_.  
Cillian smiled as he saw Viola through Todds noise, the baby bump, her rosy cheeks and long blonde hair. He kissed Ben's cheek before sitting down at the table, his plate already loaded with eggs and bacon, a steaming cup of coffee standing next to it. He paused for a minute and looked around at the people that sat here with him. A single world found it's way from his noise to Ben's and over to Todd's –  
_Family_.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally uploaded to tumblr.  
> English isn't my first language, so I apologise for any mistakes. I was pressured into writing this by the CHAOSWALK™ groupchat on twitter!  
> Thanks for reading,
> 
> Kai


End file.
